In a principal aspect the present invention relates to the construction of garage door panels, and, more particularly, to the construction of a pinch proof edge construction for garage door panels that are connected in a manner which enables them to articulate as the move along a curved mounting track between a closed condition and an open condition. Further, the present invention relates to the mounting hardware associated with such door panels, particularly insulated door panels formed of opposed sheets of metal with an insulating foam therebetween.
Sectional door panels are commonly used in various commercial, industrial and residential applications, particularly for sectioned garage doors wherein a series of adjacent panels are connected to one another along horizontal axis, hinge joints. The panels are typically mounted on rollers that fit in tracks to guide movement of the panels between a closed and an open condition. Examples of such sectional doors are described in various U.S. patents, including the following:
U.S. PAT. NO.TITLE3,941,180Sectional Door and Guard Rail Assembly3,967,761System for Injecting Particulate Material intothe Combustion Chamber of a Repetitive CombustionCoating Apparatus4,644,725Double-Walled Panel4,893,666Articulated Overhead Gate5,002,114Overhead Door5,129,441Sectional Doors and Compressible Flexible HingeAssemblies5,148,850Weatherproof Continuous Hinge Connector forArticulated Vehicular Overhead Doors5,170,832Lift Link Gate Having a Plurality of Tabular GateElements5,359,812Finger Guard6,330,901Z-Shaped Strut for Door Panel
Among the features desirable with such door panel constructions are the provision of a joint between the adjacent panels designed to preclude the creation of pinch points as the panels move along a curved track and articulate with respect to one another. Patents which disclose pinch proof for horizontal edges of door panels include the following:
U.S. PAT. NO.TITLE3,967,671Upwardly-Acting Sectional Door3,941,180Sectional Door and Guard Rail Assembly
The noted patents are incorporated herewith by reference as background information. Typically, in a multiple panel or multiple section garage door which has insulating characteristics, the separate panels are made from a formed metal outside sheet and a formed metal inside sheet spaced from the outside sheet. The sheets may be made from embossed metal and may be shaped during the manufacturing process to provide decorative features such as recessed portions of the panels and the like. Typically, the formed metal sheets are arrayed in opposed relation and have a horizontal length substantially equivalent to the width of a garage door, by way of example, and a vertical height in the range of 1-3 feet. The space between the panel sheets is generally filled with an insulating foam material. The panels are then hinged to one another so that they may articulate between a planar array and an articulated array during movement along a mounting and support track to reveal a door opening.
The hardware, to attach the panels to the track and to one another as well as to provide adequate reinforcement of the door panels in order to comply with code and structural requirements, are the subject of numerous prior art patents such as those set forth above. Nonetheless, there has remained the need to provide improved features associated with such panel constructions for use as garage doors and in other sectioned panel door applications. The construction of the horizontal edges of the adjacent panels to provide pinch proof type protection as well as the hardware for mounting the panels on a track are all topics of desired improvement. The present invention relates to such topics.